Both students and parents are in the midst of the back to school season, a time when children of all ages dread the days of sitting in the classroom and parents fear the outlandish costs that come with one of the busiest times of the season for retailers and consumers.
When it comes to a post-secondary education, a lot of people are in agreement that it’s expensive. From paying for tuition to purchasing textbooks, students and parents are in for a hefty price-tag. But how much are they going to pay? That’s the disagreement between both generations.
According to an online poll conducted for CIBC last month, two-thirds of Canadian parents were willing to pay for two-thirds of their children’s college and university education, but kids thought their parents would only be paying for at most one-third of the cost.
In addition, 41 percent of student respondents believed their parents were paying too much; these survey participants purported that parents should only be covering about one-quarter of the cost or less. In total, parents project to spend $64,300 on each child’s post-secondary education.
Study authors suggest that this shows a disconnect between parents and children in terms of cost. It also has led many to concede that millennials are unaware of the true cost of attaining a degree or diploma.
“Part of the disconnect between parents and their children is likely that students aren’t accounting for all of the costs beyond tuition,” said Marybeth Jordan, head of CIBC’s online brokerage, in a statement. “The conversation between parents and students about the full costs of education, and how to pay for it, needs to start long before the first tuition payment is due. While it’s clear from our polling that parents want to help pay for their children’s post-secondary education, in most cases they are taking on the lion’s share of a rapidly rising expense — and covering far more than their kids realize.”
Last week, a C.S.T. Consultants (CST) survey found that nearly half of parents with children under 18 expect to spend less than $200 on back to school shopping, while one-third of mothers plan to spend less than $100.
Meanwhile, an EY survey published earlier this month discovered that back to school sales will remain stagnant this year. The firm forecasts sales of conventional back to school items, like clothing, stationary and shoes, to be flat, which is different last year’s 3.7 percent growth.
“The stage is set for an overall sluggish back-to-school season,” said Daniel Baer, EY Partner and Canadian Retail and Consumer Products Sector Leader, in a statement. “Higher food and gas prices, inflation and investment in new homes are leaving consumers with fewer dollars to spend on clothing and other traditional back-to-school items.”
The Leger/CIBC online survey was conducted with 1,056 Canadian parents with children under 25 between Jul. 21 and Jul. 23 and with 500 Canadian university or college students between Jul. 10 and Jul. 17. It contains a margin of error of +/3.1 percentage points with parents and +/-4.38 percentage points with students.
